M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samson Marries a Philistine
14 When Samson went to Timnah, he saw a young Philistine woman. 2 He went home and told his father and mother, “I’ve seen a Philistine woman at Timnah. Now get her for me so that I can marry her.”
3 His father and mother asked him, “Aren’t there any women among our relatives or all our people? Do you have to marry a woman from those godless Philistines?”
But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She’s the one I want!” 4 His father and mother didn’t know that Yahweh was behind this. Yahweh was looking for an opportunity to do something to the Philistines. (At that time the Philistines were ruling Israel.)
5 Samson went with his father and mother to Timnah. When they were coming to the vineyards of Timnah, a young roaring lion met Samson. 6 The Ruach Yahweh came over him. With his bare hands, he tore the lion apart as if it were a young goat. He didn’t tell his parents what he had done.
7 Then he went to talk to the young woman. She was the one he wanted. 8 Later he went back to marry her. On his way he left the road to look at the lion he had killed. He saw a swarm of bees and some honey in the lion’s dead body. 9 He scraped the honey into his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some of the honey to eat. He didn’t tell them he had scraped it out of the lion’s dead body.
10 After his father went to see the woman, Samson threw a party. (This is what young men used to do.) 11 When her family saw him, they chose 30 of their friends to be with him.
12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve it during the seven days of the party, I’ll give you 30 linen shirts and 30 changes of clothes. 13 But if you can’t solve it, you will give me the same things.”
They responded, “Tell us your riddle! Let’s hear it!”
14 So Samson said to them,
“From the eater
came something to eat.
From the strong one
came something sweet.”
For three days they couldn’t solve the riddle. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Trick your husband into solving the riddle for us. If you don’t, we’ll burn you and your family to death. Did the two of you invite us just to make us poor?”
16 So Samson’s wife cried on his shoulder. She said, “You hate me! You don’t really love me! You gave my friends a riddle and didn’t tell me the answer.”
Samson replied, “I haven’t even told my father and mother, so why should I tell you?”
17 But she cried on his shoulder for the rest of the seven days of the party. Finally, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she made his life miserable. Then she told her friends the answer to the riddle.
18 So before sundown on the seventh day, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson replied,
“If you hadn’t used my cow to plow,
you wouldn’t know my riddle now.”
19 When the Ruach Yahweh came over him, he went to Ashkelon and killed 30 men there. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who solved the riddle. He was angry, and he went to his father’s house. 20 Samson’s wife was given to his best man.
Paul in Corinth
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth. 2 In Corinth he met a Jewish man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. Aquila had been born in Pontus, and they had recently come from Italy because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, 3 and because they made tents for a living as he did, he stayed with them and they worked together.
4 On every day of worship, Paul would discuss Scripture in the synagogue. He tried to win over Jews and Greeks who had converted to Judaism. 5 But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted all his time to teaching the word of God. He assured the Jews that Yeshua is the Messiah. 6 But they opposed him and insulted him. So Paul shook the dust from his clothes and told them, “You’re responsible for your own death. I’m innocent. From now on I’m going to people who are not Jewish.”
7 Then he left the synagogue and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who was a convert to Judaism. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 The synagogue leader Crispus and his whole family believed in the Lord. Many Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Don’t be afraid to speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 I’m with you. No one will attack you or harm you. I have many people in this city.”
11 Paul lived in Corinth for a year and a half and taught the word of God to them.
12 While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews had one thought in mind. They attacked Paul and brought him to court. 13 They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are against Moses’ Teachings.”
14 Paul was about to answer when Gallio said to the Jews, “If there were some kind of misdemeanor or crime involved, reason would demand that I put up with you Jews. 15 But since you’re disputing words, names, and your own teachings, you’ll have to take care of that yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge who gets involved in those things.” 16 So Gallio had them forced out of his court.
17 Then all the governor’s officers took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio couldn’t have cared less.
Paul’s Return Trip to Antioch
18 After staying in Corinth quite a while longer, Paul left for Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila went with him. In the city of Cenchrea, Aquila had his hair cut, since he had taken a vow. From Cenchrea they took a boat headed for Syria 19 and arrived in the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. Paul went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. 20 The Jews asked him to stay longer, but he refused. 21 As he left, he told them, “I’ll come back to visit you if God wants me to.”
Paul took a boat from Ephesus 22 and arrived in the city of Caesarea. He went to Jerusalem, greeted the church, and went back to the city of Antioch.
23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, where he strengthened the faith of all the disciples.
Apollos Tells Others about Jesus
24 A Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, arrived in the city of Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and knew how to use the Scriptures in a powerful way. 25 He had been instructed in the Lord’s way and spoke enthusiastically. He accurately taught about Yeshua but knew only about the baptism John performed. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained God’s way to him more accurately.
27 When Apollos wanted to travel to Greece, the believers in Ephesus encouraged him. They wrote to the disciples in Greece to tell them to welcome him. When he arrived in Greece, God’s kindness[a] enabled him to help the believers a great deal. 28 In public Apollos helped them by clearly showing from the Scriptures that Yeshua is the Messiah and that the Jews were wrong.
The Yoke of Babylon Will Be on Judah
27 When Zedekiah, son of King Josiah of Judah, began to rule, Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah.
2 This is what Yahweh said to me: Make leather straps and a wooden yoke,[a] and strap the yoke on your neck. 3 Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, with messengers who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. 4 Give them an order for their masters: “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: Say this to your masters, 5 ‘I used my great strength and my powerful arm to make the earth along with the people and the animals on it. I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I have handed all these countries over to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made wild animals serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until Babylon is defeated. Then many nations and great kings will make him their slave.
8 “‘Suppose nations or kingdoms won’t serve or surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will punish those nations by wars, famines, and plagues, until I have put an end to them by Nebuchadnezzar’s power, declares Yahweh. 9 Don’t listen to prophets, mediums, interpreters of dreams, fortunetellers, or sorcerers who tell you that you’ll never serve the king of Babylon. 10 They are prophesying lies to you. They will cause you to be taken far from your lands. I’ll scatter you, and you will die. 11 But suppose a nation surrenders to the king of Babylon and serves him. I will let it stay in its own land. People will farm the land and live on it,’” declares Yahweh.
12 I spoke the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah, “Surrender to the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and you will stay alive. 13 Why should you and your people die in wars, famines, and plagues? Yahweh has threatened the nations that don’t serve the king of Babylon. 14 Don’t listen to the prophets who tell you that you’ll never serve the king of Babylon. They are prophesying lies to you. 15 I didn’t send them, declares Yahweh. They prophesy lies in my name. So I will scatter you, and you and the prophets will die.”
16 I also spoke this message to the priests and all the people. “This is what Yahweh said to me: Don’t listen to the prophets who tell you that the utensils of Yahweh’s temple will be brought back from Babylon soon. They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Don’t listen to them. Instead, serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city be turned into rubble? 18 If they are prophets and Yahweh is speaking to them, they should beg Yahweh Tsebaoth not to allow the utensils that are left in Yahweh’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem to be taken away to Babylon.
19–20 “Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakin,[b] son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. But he didn’t take the pillars, the bronze pool, the stands, and the rest of the utensils that are left in this city. 21 This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says about the utensils that are left in Yahweh’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They will be taken to Babylon and stay there until I come for them, declares Yahweh. I will take them from there and bring them back to this place.”
Jesus Teaches Disciples on the Mount of Olives(A)
13 As Yeshua was going out of the temple courtyard, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these huge stones and these beautiful buildings!”
2 Yeshua said to him, “Do you see these large buildings? Not one of these stones will be left on top of another. Each one will be torn down.”
3 As Yeshua was sitting on the Mount of Olives facing the temple buildings, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the sign when all this will come to an end?”
5 Yeshua answered them, “Be careful not to let anyone deceive you. 6 Many will come using my name. They will say, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many people.
7 “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come. 8 Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes and famines in various places. These are only the beginning pains of the end.
9 “Be on your guard! People will hand you over to the Jewish courts and whip you in their synagogues. You will stand in front of governors and kings to testify to them because of me. 10 But first, the Good News must be spread to all nations. 11 When they take you away to hand you over to the authorities, don’t worry ahead of time about what you will say. Instead, say whatever is given to you to say when the time comes. Indeed, you are not the one who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will.
12 “Brother will hand over brother to death; a father will hand over his child. Children will rebel against their parents and kill them. 13 Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.
14 “When you see the disgusting thing that will cause destruction standing where it should not (let the reader take note), those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. 15 Those who are on the roof should not come down to get anything out of their houses. 16 Those who are in the field should not turn back to get their coats.
17 “How horrible it will be for the women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days. 18 Pray that it will not be in winter. 19 It will be a time of misery that has not happened from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and will certainly never happen again. 20 If the Lord does not reduce that time, no one will be saved. But those days will be reduced because of those whom God has chosen.
21 “At that time don’t believe anyone who tells you, ‘Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’ 22 False messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will work miraculous signs and do wonderful things to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen. 23 Be on your guard! I have told you everything before it happens.
24 “Now, after the misery of those days, the sun will turn dark, the moon will not give light, 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the universe will be shaken.
26 “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out his angels, and from every direction under the sky, they will gather those whom God has chosen.
28 “Learn from the story of the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and it sprouts leaves, you know summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happen, you know that he is near, at the door.
30 “I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all these things take place. 31 The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
No One Knows When the Earth and the Heavens Will Disappear
32 “No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows. 33 Be careful! Watch! You don’t know the exact time. 34 It is like a man who went on a trip. As he left home, he put his servants in charge. He assigned work to each one and ordered the guard to be alert. 35 Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know when the owner of the house will return. It could be in the evening or at midnight or at dawn or in the morning. 36 Make sure he doesn’t come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 I’m telling everyone what I’m telling you: ‘Be alert!’”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.